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Saturday, February 7, 2015

SpinTunes #10 Round 2 Reviews: Matthew Jordan

Back when I used to update my blog, I used to feature Matt from time to time. I've been following him on YouTube for a long time now. He posts great originals & covers. After reading his reviews, I suggest checking out his channel & subscribing. - Spin

Note: This is totally out of my wheelhouse, as the “horror” genre of music isn’t really something I listen to or create myself, but I’ll do my best!

1) “BucketHat” Bobby – Back From Hell - Completely love the creepy cabaret feel of this song. The accordion and xylophone are the perfect instrumentation choices. Also, your lyrics flow with the melody really well. There’s something to be said for lyrics that can be perfectly sung to fit their music in such a conversational way. And you really committed to the vocal performance too. Excellent work!

2) James Young – She’s A Monster – Very Depeche Mode/David Bowie. But that works great for this genre. Also, using the horror metaphors in a love song is an awesome idea. Very catchy chorus too! This would have been right at home on the radio in the 1980’s ;-)

3) Dr. Lindyke - Howl In The Family – Really digging this. I love the sense of humor. For me, the horror genre is always most fun with a slight wink of the eye a la “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon. This had some of that. Loved these clever lines: “My wife, she turned into a zombie/And she wanted to feast on my skull /But my poor baby had to go hungry /'cause my cranium just ain't that full”. Also anyone who uses the word “lycanthropy” in a song has my respect!

4) Kolton Holbrook – Insanity’s Requiem -You took a simple piano scale and made it creepy! Nice work. So hard to judge a track like, that’s more EDM style, against some of these other tunes. But your production is top notch and your lyric idea was very innovative. Your “1900s Mental Hospital” idea was perfect. Love how you use the talked sound-bytes in there too.

5) Megalodon – Daddy Daughter Day – Wow! Did NOT EXPECT where this song was headed to say the least, lol. It cracks me up how this volleys back and forth between the silly jazzy feel and the horrifying hard rock chorus. Incredibly unique tune.

6) Jailhouse Payback – The Doomed Guitar – Bit of a Neil Young feel to this one. Again, maybe not traditionally “horror” but I really love your lyrical direction here. Excellent production as well. Great ideas. Way to go!

7) Army Defense – Asylum Nights – LOVE those harmonies at the beginning. And actually your whole melody is very catchy. The only thing I think this particular tune is lacking is that it isn’t quite “horror” enough compared to some of the others. But it’s one of my favorite songs, music-wise, of any of these entries. Also, you have a great singing voice!

8) Ominous Ride – White Rose – I’m a piano player so I immediately gravitated to this music. The piano part was extremely haunting and I loved that. Also told a really compelling story.

9) Jutze – Being Edric Haleen – You used the word “Kafkaesque” in a song! I give you mad props for that. Your feel changes are a bit cabaret which is something I really like in the horror genre. This story sounds sort of like the movie “Being John Malkovich”. I really enjoyed it though. By the way, I like Billy Joel, Elton John and Elvis Costello. So go trade some of your records in! Haha

10) Pete Murphy – Josephine - Great direction with your “horror” entry! I tend to gravitate towards the love songs that have a creepy/horror theme about them. A very good fit with the modern indie singer-songwriter genre.

11) Governing Dynamics - To The Honorable Charles W. Yancy, From Your Admirers - First and foremost, great lyrics on this one. A very good example of how an alt-rock band could write a “horror” genre song. Love the interplay of your different guitar parts. Something a little bit 90’s about this tune, which is not a bad thing – that was a great decade for music!

12) Dr. Lindyke – Happy Anniversary Darling – Maybe not as complete of a production as some of the other entries, but you definitely know your song structure and have a great sense of melody and lyric. You also managed to take your horror theme and make it into a really well done love song. Very good vocal, too!

13) Zoe Gray - Grave – First off, love the title. It’s one of those that seems like it should have been done before, but hasn’t really been to my knowledge. Your chorus hook is very solid too. You’ve got that late 90’s chick rock dynamic down with this one!

14) Emperor Gum - Express – Reminded me a lot of The Beatles! Had an Eleanor Rigby feel in parts. So instantly you’re gonna get on my good side for that  Cool dynamic and feel change in the middle too!

15) Adam Sakellarides – For Sale – You’ve got a great sense of melody. Also, another very clever lyrical concept. You also know your song structure quite well – really good job writing a solid chorus for this one.

16) Edric Haleen – Sweet Dreams – Really beautiful melody. Almost could work well in a musical. The intro especially has a “Music Of The Night” thing about it. I could easily hear the Phantom of the Opera singing this one.

17) Charlie McCarron – Knock At Your Door – Something about this made me think of The Addams Family. It had a very 1960’s feel too it, but in a creepy way. The eerie whistling was a really nice touch.

18) Atom & EV – The Demon Rig – Johnny Cash does horror! Haha. You came up with a really compelling narrative story and I think it worked with your musical style very well.

19) Melissa Leona – Come With Me – I love the creepy “mmmm” background vocal and all the harmonies are really great! Also your lyrics are perfect for this genre. Lots of cool production ideas in here.

20) Ben And The Angel Fish – Slaughterhouse Of Misery - Some awesome spooky piano and xylophone hooks in there. And very creepy lyrics. I think this particular song would have benefitted more from an extra repeating hook after each of the verses. Just something to think about in the future.

21) Ross Durand - Lullaby – The beginning of this sounded a lot like “Lullabye” by Ben Folds Five. Which is a song I love. But then it went all crazy hard rock! Haha. I respect the total dynamic changes back and forth. Cool ideas here!

22) David J – Sleep Child Sleep – Immediately loved the idea to start this with a beating heart. Instant creepy points! Something about the lyrics reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe. And the delivery was like Jack from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Ha. Very fun.

23) Dreiviertel Drei - Schnipp Schnapp – I might have nightmares from this song. LOL. It creeped me out for sure. I wish I spoke German so I knew exactly what some of those lyrics meant. Very unique entry!

24) Gorbzilla And The Gorbzookies – Tea Party – Hahahaha! Very clever idea. Redefined the usual definitions of “horror”. Really unique idea! Maybe work on your melodic phrases a bit but great entry.

25) Domingo – 4 Madrigals For Lilith – Beautiful harmonies. Again these songs are SO different it’s very hard to judge them against each other. Love the counter-point vocal parts. As a whole, stylistically this just wasn’t quite what I normally would expect from the “horror” genre. But still a lot of talent involved.

26) The Boffo Yux Dudes – Uninvited Guest – Those whispery voices are CREEPY. Very unique hybrid of different musical styles. Some parts of it almost had a “Rocky Horror” feel to them actually. You definitely nailed the “horror” aspect of this assignment!

27) Caleb Hines -­ Buried Alive ­- Love some of these chord progressions. Really haunting and beautiful. Hard to judge instrumental tunes against songs with lyrics, which tripped me up a little bit in ranking this song. This one almost sounded like it would work as a videogame or film score theme.

28) The Masked Stranger - Oh So Under Zyvytehliahtysrecht – The guitar parts worked for this tune, very discordant in a creepy way, and I really liked some of the lyrics. “Vertigo transcendance aflow” stood out. Very poetic. My most constructive comment would be, work on your melodies a little more. The difficult thing for me is I don’t listen to this more “screamo” hard rock style so I’m probably not the best judge of these sorts of tunes.

29) Jurek Mika – Scream Funk – Great job on the lyrics. They told a good horror story. Very creepy! My main constructive critique would be, try to think a little bit more about how your lyrics/melody fit with your beat. They went a little counter to the beat, which can be cool if done on purpose – but just be cognizant about that. Because the lyrics were almost sung freeform, it came more across as like beat poetry – again, that’s great if that’s what you’re going for but just make sure that’s your desired effect.